strange and random happenstance

Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: March 6th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★ 
To Buy

Bran is MIA after helping rescue Mercy in Europe. This leaves his son Charles in charge of the Aspen Creek Pack. Instead of Anna and him being on the outer fringes of the pack and living in their home that is more a haven than anything else they are ensconced in Bran's house, Pack HQ, and Bran's wife Leah isn't taking too well to having house guests. She's used to having the pack in and out of her house at all hours, but not her step-son and daughter-in-law underfoot. It's almost a relief when a crisis arises. The hills behind their small Montana town are filled with wolves that are under Bran's protection but can not live amongst the pack. A danger to themselves and others, they live off the radar. These wildings are often left to their own devices but can call on the pack in times of crisis. One such crisis has arisen. Men have shown up in the woods. Well armed and prepared men. They have abducted Hester, a member of the pack, and her Fae mate Jonesy has called for help. Due to the remoteness of their location it's a miracle that Anna and Charles arrive before Hester is gone. The ensuing fight leaves many dead but even more questions that need answering. These militant attackers came into the Marrok's territory and attempted to take a pack member under his protection when they knew Bran was gone. They were too well prepared and well informed, indicating an enemy that is well funded and a possible mole within the pack. Yet there is a surprise in store. One of the attackers is known to Anna. He was there when she was abused in her old pack. Charles would kill him if the man wasn't already dead. Hopefully there will be no more death. With that goal in mind the strongest wolves set out to visit the wildings and when Anna meets the werewolf artist Wellesley and connects with him everything starts to make sense. The puzzle pieces are falling into place. But will they be able to accept what is revealed?

An ongoing perk of being a blogger is access to NetGalley where you can request digital advance reader copies of books. Yet NetGalley is a double edged sword, not just because you might end up requesting so many books there's no chance you'll ever finish them, of which I am guilty, but because sometimes instead of allowing you to request a book, in it's place, taunting you, is the "I Wish" button. Of course sometimes they do grant wishes, they tell you right there as you're desperately clicking the button hoping it will transform into a request one. Of all the authors I've read through NetGalley over the years I have never gotten such a thrill at seeing a book listed as with Patricia Briggs. Those gorgeous covers by Dan dos Santos though are always followed by nothing more than a wish. Yet in these instances my wishes have all been granted, thankfully without some nefarious deal with a fairy on the back end; just a request for my honest opinion, and my honest opinion is that I love Patricia Briggs and all her books set in the world of Mercy Thompson. Yet it's hard to review these books if just for the simple reason that after fifteen installments it's hard to find something new to say... except this time there is something new to say, and that's my realization that I love the Alpha and Omega series more. As long as there aren't any more horses. Yes, I entered this world through Mercy's adventures, but I relate more to Charles and Anna. At first I was wondering if it's because with only five books under their belt they had less baggage, but as seen here this series carries Mercy's baggage as well as it's own. Therefore I thought, perhaps it's the more focused narrative with less characters, but here we dealt with a pack bigger than the Columbia Basin Pack. In the end it comes down to the fact I relate more to Charles and Anna. They are more introspective, more removed. They are a part of their pack yet cherish their alone time, and that's something I can relate to.

As for the Aspen Creek Pack, they really take center stage in Burn Bright. Aside from their first adventure, Charles and Anna have been traipsing all over the continental United States and rarely have time to take in the Montana air. This time isn't downtime either, with Charles's farther Bran MIA after helping rescue Mercy in her previous adventure, but Charles being placed in charge of the pack means he's stuck on his home turf. Therefore, for what I feel is the first time, we're really getting a firsthand look at the pack. It's not filtered through Mercy's memories or passed down gossip that eventually gets to Charles and Anna, it's on the ground and immediate. We get to not only see the pack, but see what they are like without Bran present, who is such a dominate force he can overpower any plot line. And while each and every revelation of how the pack structure works was interesting to me, what I was most drawn to was the insight into Leah. Leah is Bran's mate, a mate who no one likes. Sometimes it seems that Bran doesn't much care for her either. In each and every one of her appearances, be it Mercy's stories or Charles's, she comes across as a really self-centered and bitchy stepmother. I won't say wicked, because she's never done anything altogether malicious, but she's always appeared to be cut from the same cloth. Burn Bright started out in this same vein and yet, while Leah never changed we readers finally got insight into how she became the way she is and the benefits of that. It's often the case that being able to put yourself in someone else's shoes lets you empathize with them and so it is here. We got to the bottom of her rage and came out seeing her with new eyes. She has even earned the respect of Charles, and that's saying something.

We also learned about "secret" pack members. Enter the wildings! Oh, how I love that Patricia Briggs has taken a word that is so heavily associated with Game of Thrones and George R. R. Martin and made it her own. The wildings, instead of being people just living behind a really big wall are werewolves, occasionally with their mates, who can no longer live in a pack setting. They are either too damaged or too dangerous, or a combination of both, to be allowed entrance to the town of Aspen Creek. Some of them occasionally can join the pack hunts, but most of the time they are secreted away on their own large parcels of land under Bran's supervision. Why this resonated with me so strongly is that I've felt for awhile that the black and white nature of who deserves to live and who deserves to die due to their behavior in this fictional universe was needing some grey. Having Charles as executioner to Bran's judgment was harsh. Bran seemed to make Aspen Creek a haven for the damaged, but only up to a point. Yet now we find out that he's actually been hiding his people out in the woods to protect them instead of giving them a fatal punishment. It makes Bran more human to me. He's no longer this untouchable, this unknowable force, he has a heart, and not just for Mercy. This is also seen in the expanding of Leah's past. The superhumans are coming down to our level and that just makes this a more relevant series. Briggs has always explored the all too human side of suffering with her series, and this is another great entry into seeing ourselves more clearly through something that is "other."

All the wildings could be considered crazy, to an extent. It's almost as if Briggs is creating her own spectrum, from unable to take human form to will kill you rather than look at you, we see a wide range of problems. Yet all this boils down to the notion of what makes us crazy and who cares for crazy. I was drawn to the first problem, what makes us crazy. Due to things that have been happening in my own life I felt the importance, the weight of this question. Is it environmental factors? A genetic disposition? An outside factor like drugs? Or, as we are in a supernatural world here, magic? With each different wilding we see a different presentation of madness, and yet, Anna shows that by approaching the situation with compassion these issues can be dealt with. With how Anna carefully deals with Wellesley we see what it is to be an Omega. She is the carer. She has had so much pain inflicted on herself that she knows what others who are injured need. So much of the book ties back into Anna's past traumas, in other words perhaps a re-read of her introductory short story from On the Prowl is needed, that we see there is no instant cure. Anna is still recovering. Her marriage and mystical connection to Charles didn't automatically heal all wounds. In fact, through dealing with her problems and then helping the Wildings, Anna is finding her place in the pack. Your damage, your illness, your problems, whatever they may be, they don't make up who you are, they inform who you become, and Anna is becoming an amazing heroine. My heroine.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alpha and Omega, Anna, Bran, Burn Bright, Charles Cornick, Fairies, Game of Thrones, GRRM, Leah, Marrok, Mental Illness, Mercy Thompson, Netgalley, Pack, Patricia Briggs, PTSD, Werewolves, Wildings, Witches

Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs
ARC provided by the publisher
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: March 3rd, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Charles can count the people he loves and trusts on one hand. One of those people is mortal and is dying. Charles has known Joseph Sani for most of Joseph's life. He has seen him grow up, have a family, but it was too much to be around to see him decline. Though the time has come to face this hardship, to say goodbye. Charles and Anna set out for Arizona to visit Joseph and his family. The Sani's have made a name for themselves breeding Arabian horses and Charles plans to buy a horse for Anna for her birthday. But Charles encounters trouble in the Sani household. Joseph's dad is a werewolf and has been petitioning for his son the be changed, against Joseph's wishes it might be said. Hosteen views the argument still open until the day Joseph is in the ground and instantly harasses Charles on the subject. Yet this ongoing argument is put aside when Joseph's daughter-in-law is attacked by a powerful Fae and his grandchildren are almost killed. Charles and Anna look into the attack and come to the conclusion that a very powerful fairy is on the loose and children are in danger and it's up to them to stop it.

A new Patricia Briggs book is always a time to celebrate. To me she is the best writer currently of urban fantasy, the one who fills the hole in my heart left by Joss Whedon. Her books are the epitome of comfort reads, a time set aside to curl up with a good book, a cast of characters you love, and a warm blanket, with the world slipping away as you are drawn into the current mystery. And my, have I missed Anna and Charles! Having two years of Mercy back to back was lovely, but there's something about Anna and Charles that I just connect to. Not hearing from them in three years was hard to bear, like a friend who you've lost touch with. That incident in Boston, then nothing till now. Thank you for finally having the time to catch up with me.

The problem facing long running series is that you can get in a rut, you can get formulaic, and then Cousin Oliver happens. So far I continue to find Briggs's series both fresh and exciting, but there is something more compelling about the Alpha and Omega series. Yes, it could be that compared to Mercy it's newer and has less then half the books, but what I think it is is the way the series is set up to follow their story as they go to other locations then being confined to the Tri-Cities or Bon Temps or even Stars Hollow. Sometimes a change in scene is necessary to keep a story vibrant. I like how we start out and they're snug in their home then something happens and Anna and Charles are dispatched to the scene. Seattle, Boston, now Scottsdale! Plus with each location change we get a new set of characters to mingle with the old, providing a nice blend of the familiar and the strange.

But with each change in location we get a change in focus, and here, well, the focus was too much of the equine variety. I find it odd that in quick succession I have read two books that are very focused on horses. As I said in that other review, I've never been a horse person, but that doesn't mean that books featuring horses are a bad thing, they just have to be handled right. Daisy Goodwin's The Fortune Hunter handled horses right, in that she didn't become overly detailed and wrote the horses as characters so that you could connect to them. Goodwin did it right, Briggs did it wrong. I know Briggs is a horse enthusiast in the extreme, you can get that from her writing even if you didn't already know this, but she wasn't able to tamp down that enthusiasm to make horses accessible to those who aren't of her ilk. At one point in the book Anna gives up trying to figure out all the jargon spewing out of Charles and I think that if one of the characters in your book can't even keep up, well, you lost your readers a long time ago.

So much horse talk had a detrimental effect on the pacing of the book. At the beginning it was OK, the horses added atmosphere, but about three quarters of the way through the book when the bad guy is "caught" and everyone just pushes the horrors they've faced behind them and they all trot off to the horse show the book hits a deadly lull it can't recover from. There's still a quarter of the book left, so you know that something is going to happen, there's going to be a twist, but after a few hours with Anna and Charles in the bleachers at the horse show I couldn't care less what that twist was. This is right about the time Anna gave up too I might add. Yet it kept going. And going. And more horses. And yeah. I've been to state fairs, I've been to Dairy expos, I've been to events like this and never in my life did I think they could be written in a way that bored me almost literally to tears. All forward momentum left the book and I thought I'd be trapped with those creepy horse slash pageant kid combinations for all eternity. I never want to read about horses ever again.

But I really don't ever want to read about those creepy little kids that are dressed like western themed pageant kids, pink rhinestones and all, riding their horses. Shudder. Yet this version of children is just one of many, seeing as children are a big theme in this book. I was OK with Anna pressuring Charles about them having a child, this didn't seem out of place. The evil fairy that was the book's Big Bad and was kidnapping children for nefarious reasons, really really creepy and spooky and kept the plot ticking right along until the horses came and trampled all over it. And then the book shifted. Yes, there was a creepy kid vibe from the evil fairy but to couple that with this weird objectification of the children at the horse show? It went too far into the creepy. Add to that that Anna and Charles thought this was cute? Um, no. This kind of objectification leads to evil people preying on children. So in a book about bringing this kind of evil, though in immortal form, to justice while at the same time condoning cultural practices that can result in drawing the attention of evil... no. Just no. Yes, life is all about compromise, but let's compromise about having children or recovering from abuse, finding a middle ground where we can live with life's horrors, not finding a middle ground where the horrors are allowed to flourish.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alpha and Omega, Anna, ARCs, Arizona, Charles Cornick, Children, Daisy Goodwin, Dead Heat, Fae, Horses, Joss Whedon, Mercy Thompson, Patricia Briggs, The Fortune Hunter, Tri-Cities

Cavendon Hall by Barbara Taylor Bradford
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: April 1st, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

The Inghams and the Swanns are inseparable. For hundreds of years the Swanns have served their noble lieges becoming more like family then staff. Their children are brought up together and their bonds are unbreakable. Those bonds will be tested when a horrific attack on the Earl's most precious daughter, Lady Daphne, brings danger to the very heart of Cavendon. The Swanns close ranks to protect Lady Daphne from any further threats, even her own family if necessary. But danger doesn't just circle the family, the world is on the brink of war. Can these two families in crisis come together to help each other through the horrors they have to face and the dangers to come? Or will their bonds start to fray?

Sometimes you need to go to a happy, if unbelievable place, where the moon is always full and servants are like family, just to take you away from your cares. Where everyone loves everyone else, though perhaps a little too much with the incestuous nature between the Inghams and the Swanns. I almost expected them to start quoting that other famous resident of Yorkshire, Emily Brontë, by saying of the Inghams and the Swanns, "whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same." This isn't high art or great literature like Emily, this is pure fun, like Downton Abbey on crack, without the constant threat of one of the Bateses ending up in the clink. These magical happy pills make even the worst situation not only bearable, but work for everyones benefit and eventual happiness. Though seriously, I would like to know how there's always a full moon.

Cavendon Hall does suffer from an unevenness. Most of this has to do with pacing, but also how it's stylistically written and sometimes falls prey to self aggrandisement. Tackling the later, I really would like other authors opinions on quoting yourself. Each part of the book begins with a series of quotes from Shakespeare to Tennyson to Emma Harte. Emma Harte? As in A Woman of Substance Emma Hart? Yes, Barbara Taylor Bradford just quoted herself. By placing this quote with actual quotable greats I can't tell if she's just using something to hand that she thinks works or is trying to elevate her art to a new level? Either way, it seems a bit shady to quote your own characters in a setting that isn't tongue-in-cheek. Makes me think she's more then a little full of herself... but if any of my author friends would like to weigh in I would love to hear what they have to say.

As for the unevenness, it's not just that she occasionally switches up her writing style to be hyper sexual for a paragraph only to revert to her staid writing style of every other page, but the way time is handled is troublesome. Two years take up the first 279 pages while the final 126 pages is six years. So there's this nice introduction, we get to know everyone and become a part of their daily lives to have it all then whoosh past us at light speed. I'm not sure if it's that Barbara Taylor Bradford just didn't want to handle WWI in detail or what. I would say it almost felt as if she was sick of telling her story, but seeing as this is a series with the next book coming out in March, she couldn't be sick of her characters already if she's writing even more about them? But I think this can be a universal gripe to all authors, don't make us fall in love with your characters and then shift focus and gloss over things. Stay consistent within the narrative. All your books don't have to be the same, just the one you're currently writing should be consistent. And if it ends up a doorstop of a novel, so be it, I'll read it.

What I feel is the driving narrative of the book is also in my mind one of the biggest issues. This is, of course, Lady Daphne's rape at the very beginning of the book. Rape is a hard issue to deal with sensitively and properly. Just look at last season of Downton Abbey where Anna's rape split the audience with those who just didn't want more misery for Anna to those who thought the rape storyline was brave, and finally to those who thought the storyline was just handled insensitively. With such a hot button topic it has become rather inappropriately in my mind a way to add drama and spice to a story. When in doubt have your strong female character attacked and assaulted. To me this just seems like a convenience versus a real desire to tackle the issue.

Even in writing about the events in the book I feel uncertain as to how to describe the event critically. The attack and the cover up that surrounds it to me smacks of not wanting to confront something horrible, but wanting to make it like it never happened. This is where my problem lies. The stigma of speaking out. Yes, this was a different time period and "reputation" was the be all end all, but still... this is a problem that still exists and even "period" literature that holds this opinion of silence being the best solution just adds to the problem.

And while the rape and it's repercussions does drive the story, it's how Barbara Taylor Bradford built off this to create a greater atmosphere of fear that kept me reading. Taking the "pervert in the woods" and expanding his reach, showing the terror and fear his other sightings added to the story, this took the book further. I can't help thinking though that if this fear is removed, how will the next book have any tension or jeopardy to keep the spark of interest going in the reader. I also can't help but think if Lady Daphne had told all after her attack that a lot of other bad situations would have been avoided... perhaps Barbara Taylor Bradford was subtly saying that silence isn't the solution... then again, she could have just wanted to scare us and keep reading her book. Anything for the story right?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Woman of Substance, Anna, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Bates, Cavendon Hall, Cavendon Women, Downton Abbey, Downton Denial, Downtonesque, Emily Bronte, Emma Harte, Inghams, Lady Daphne, Rape, Swanns, WWI, Yorkshire

You are back here yet again. You might actually have been really bad and bought the DVD last week and glutted yourself on Downton Abbey and now you have no more. Or you are being good and watching each episode as they air, waiting till March 1st when you truly will have no more Downton and are hoping you'll find some way to cauterize the wound. I am here to help. I have been there. I have railed against Jullian Fellowes as he messes with us and poor Anna and Bates once more. I have done dances of joy because Anthony is ending up where I want him, in Mary's rear view mirror. Oh, and the Russians, can't get enough of the surliness and their secrets!

You don't want this roller coaster ride to stop, but it will, and all too soon. And this is where I waltz in, hopefully in a beautiful dress worthy of Lady Mary, but more likely in PJ's covered in cat hair. I am here to help you cope with the bereft feeling that will overtake you in the weeks to come. While Downton Abbey is unique in it's own way, it's not so unique that you can't find books to fill the void. Once again for the month of February I will have a plethora of Downtonesque reading suggestions to help you through the loss to come. It's the least I can do for my fellow sufferers of Downton Denial.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anna, Anthony Gillingham, Bates, Downton Abbey, Downton Denial, Downtonesque, February, Jullian Fellowes, Lady Mary, Theme Month

Fair Game (Alpha and Omega Book 3) by Patricia Briggs
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: March 6th, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Anna feels that Charles is cutting her off. He is spending more and more time enacting his father's justice without letting Anna in. He may wish to spare her the pain, but it might also drive him insane. Charles needs to get away from himself and the dark world he lives in. While he can't escape, he can change his focus. From being an executioner to being an investigator might be the subtle shift he needs. There is a serial killer on the loose in Boston. Long thought gone to other locals, the killer is back on his home turf. The FBI are desperate and call Charles' Da for some help, he offers them Anna and Charles. They quickly learn that this isn't any ordinary killer, but one targeting their own kind, werewolves.

This new clue in an otherwise stagnate case throws everything into a new light. Soon Anna and Charles are working within a standard police procedural, with their own twist, bringing werewolves to crime scenes and reestablishing their bonds on a hunt for the killer on a small island. There are overtones of wealth and prosperity, as if the Kennedy's where serial killers, as they narrow in on their suspect. Yet the fact they are hunting one who hunts their own kind leads to a whole new level of danger. Will Anna and Charles be the same after the horrors they have seen... will the world?

I waited, not really patiently, for months for this book to come. I fell in love with the world Patricia Briggs' has created and I love that Anna and Charles have also been embraced by the fans, an obvious deduction by the fact the book was released in hardcover, not paperback like the previous two. There's a part of me that wishes I had re-read the previous installment of this series before hunkering down to read this one. But only a little part of me, because really, Hunting Ground wasn't the best Patricia Briggs can do and there was only one or two references where I was like... was that in the last book... yeah, don't remember that. Also, thankfully, the "brother wolf" was toned down a bit. The book embraced the hunt for the killer and police procedural nature of the story without dwelling too much on Anna and Charles' always fraying bond. They're together, stop throwing so much strife between them.

I was glad I had purposefully cleared my calendar for this book because I don't think I could have stopped reading the book once I started. The hunt for a killer is a powerful narrative force, even if Briggs occasionally used the kidnapping trope, but then again, a killer does have to abduct it's victims, so I guess I can forgive it, except for Anna... maybe... Even if I was able to figure out the killer almost immediately, there where little things I missed that helped the ending be a bit of a surprise. The problem though is, with reading this in a day, now what do I do till the next book comes out? She seems to be jumping them back and forth, so no new Anna and Charles till perhaps 2014... sigh. And with that cliffhanger with the faeries!?! I'm sorry, she just changed all the rules in this game. People who read Mercy but don't read this spin off series better start, because the last few pages of this book changes everything.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alpha and Omega, Anna, Boston, Charles Cornick, Fair Game, Hunting Ground, Kennedys, Patricia Briggs

Cry Wolf (Alpha and Omega Book 1) by Patricia Briggs
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: July 29th, 2008
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy
Anna is off to Montana with Charles. Little does she know that in the dark, snowbound forest, evil is lurking. Leaving Chicago behind is at once exhilarating and terrifying. She no longer has the fear of her pack, she now has the fear of the unknown. What does Charles expect of her? Is he really a good man? Upon landing in Aspen Creek, Anna is all the villagers are talking about. The stoic and cold Charles has found a mate. Too bad the first time that she gets to be presented to the masses is at Doc Wallace's funeral. A time of respect and reflection is turned into a bit of a to-do when another wolf, Asil, makes a bit of a play for Anna, but recoils when he realizes she's an Omega. Later, back at Charles' house, he explains to Anna that she's quite a catch and that they aren't officially mated yet, so others will set their cap at her.

But the possibilities of other mates is not on Anna's mind. She's worried over Charles still recovering from the Chicago trip and the fact that his father is sending the two of them out into the forest to track a rogue werewolf that is causing trouble. The trouble could be one of two things, it could be a simple rogue, or it could be a power play to intimidate the Marrok and make him back down on his decision to "out" the werewolves, like the fae did twenty years earlier. Neither Charles or Anna think they are in any danger, but Asil knows differently. He is dreaming of her. The young upstart witch who murdered his beloved. The fact that the rogue werewolf has the same markings as Asil's dearly departed Sarai means something. Can a pack of werewolves band together and make a stand against the evil in the forest? Even if that evil might be a very deadly witch.

I loved this spin off from Briggs' Mercy Thompson series. Here we do get a bit more of a romantic boy and girl co-narration going on, but we also get a riveting story and some history. With a smaller cast of characters fighting for survival in the woods, it's kind of like Michael Crichton does werewolves, of course, I should mention that I am a fan of Crichton, and this isn't a slur on the book. Also, delving deeper into the characters that have mainly stayed on the sidelines or in Mercy's back story gives even more depth to the world Briggs has created. From learning about Bran's youth and how he was changed into a werewolf, to Charles' own upbringing and his type of magic. I'll add here, I so want to be able to conjure clothes for myself like Charles does. It seems like such a useful power, especially in the colder climates. I feel like I need a sweater, bam, I have one, awesome! See what I'm saying?

But hands down, it was Asil that rocked my world. A werewolf of legend whose wife was a healer and a wolf and he cultivated roses in Spain till one day their young ward, from a powerful family of witches, turns against him and his life is ruined. So heart wrenching, and so not vampires and fairies. I'm so glad we got to have some witch action in this book, varies it up from the vampire book, fae book, vampire book, fae book pattern that Briggs has established in her previous series. Though I still have some unanswered questions about Walter... but overall, I'm very satisfied, reading to dive into book two and keep my wait for River Marked as painless as possible.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Alpha and Omega, Anna, Asil, Bran, Charles Cornick, Cry Wolf, Michael Crichton, Montana, Omega, Patricia Briggs, River Marked, Sarai, Spain, Werewolves, Witches

Hunting Ground (Alpha and Omega Book 2) by Patricia Briggs
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: August 25th, 2009
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
Challenge: Shifter Challenge 2011, Horror and Urban Fantasy
Rating: ★★
To Buy
Charles and Anna are still adjusting to married life. Charles isn't used to letting anyone into his closed off, sequestered little world and Anna is having trust issues after the brutality she faced at the hands of her previous pack. But personal issues have to be set aside for the greater good of the werewolves. Bran, the Marrok, the Alpha of all North American Alphas, has called a meeting in Seattle where the European werewolves can voice their concerns about the announcement of their existence. They don't have a vote or a choice. This will be happening. But Bran is willing to offer them whatever they need in return, from monies to shelter. The Italians, Germans and French werewolves are the main factions, with England being solely represented by their leader Arthur. They all have personal grudges and feuds. The Italians are bringing another Omega, Ric, whom they swiped away from the Germans, and France is being represented by Chastel, THE BEAST, whose blood lust is notorious. Charles has such concerns over his fathers safety that he does the unheard of and stands up to his father saying that he and Anna will go in his stead. Charles does not care if the others view this as a slight. It's for his father's protection. Arriving at the local packs landing strip, Anna and Charles head into Seattle. For Charles, this is not his element. He is one with nature, not concrete and noise, which is what Anna is. She loves the bustling metropolis right on the water, reminiscent of her hometown, Chicago. Their first stop off is to visit the fairy that Bran has negotiated with. Dana is to see that there is no bloodshed and the truth is spoken, of course, it is virtually impossible to do that around werewolves anyway.

Once their offering has been given to Dana all sorts of hell starts to break loose. There are too many Alphas in once place. First they all show up at a local restaurant and the fracas has to be calmed. The next day Anna is taken shopping by a member of the local pack and his white witch wife, where they are promptly attacked by vampires using werewolf pack magic. But this doesn't stop business from continuing on as usual and dinner parties needing to be attended. Anna and Charles visit Arthur and his human mate Sunny for dinner. Arthur believes he is the reincarnation of the real King Arthur, and even carries around a sword he claims is Excalibur. Sunny will be the first victim. It should have been Anna, but, her life seems to be worth something, unlike others. As death starts to reign down on what was to be a "peaceful" conference, Charles is glad his father isn't present, but he sure wishes that Anna was out of harms way. Trying to untangle who is really behind these attacks and who they can trust will take all the courage and strength the newlyweds have. And hopefully they'll get a happily ever after.

Intertwining myth and pack politics, this is the least successful of Briggs' novels I've read. So much of what drove the first installment of the Alpha and Omega series was the ping ponging back and forth between the confused minds of the two leads. Will they make this work, can they truly be mated. Seeing as at the beginning of this book they are together and everything is going as smoothly as it can given that they have just recently met, there is way to much uncertainty in each other and too much possessiveness on the part of "Brother Wolf." They are MATED. In the world Briggs has created, they are together, there's no going back. They are one. To then have them doubt this over and over makes you kind of want to slap them. But aside from their obvious character flaws, this book took to long to get to the center of all the swirling red herrings. Once you finally got there you realized, it's kind of cool. This is a neat integration of Arthurian Legend and other mythologies into a world of werewolves. But it took a long time of "are we there yet" to reach the point of satisfaction. While I am interested to see what happens to these characters, if they keep doubting themselves and their purpose, I'll start doubting why I'm still reading this series.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 2011 Reading Challenge, Alpha and Omega, Anna, Charles, Chastel, Excaliber, Fairies, Hunting Ground, King Arthur, Marrock, Mate, Patricia Briggs, Seattle, Werewolves

Cry Wolf (Alpha and Omega Book 1) by Patricia Briggs
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: July 29th, 2008
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
Challenge: Shifter Challenge 2011
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy
Anna is off to Montana with Charles. Little does she know that in the dark, snowbound forest, evil is lurking. Leaving Chicago behind is at once exhilarating and terrifying. She no longer has the fear of her pack, she now has the fear of the unknown. What does Charles expect of her? Is he really a good man? Upon landing in Aspen Creek, Anna is all the villagers are talking about. The stoic and cold Charles has found a mate. Too bad the first time that she gets to be presented to the masses is at Doc Wallace's funeral. A time of respect and reflection is turned into a bit of a to-do when another wolf, Asil, makes a bit of a play for Anna, but recoils when he realizes she's an Omega. Later, back at Charles' house, he explains to Anna that she's quite a catch and that they aren't officially mated yet, so others will set their cap at her.

But the possibilities of other mates is not on Anna's mind. She's worried over Charles still recovering from the Chicago trip and the fact that his father is sending the two of them out into the forest to track a rogue werewolf that is causing trouble. The trouble could be one of two things, it could be a simple rogue, or it could be a power play to intimidate the Marrok and make him back down on his decision to "out" the werewolves, like the fae did twenty years earlier. Neither Charles or Anna think they are in any danger, but Asil knows differently. He is dreaming of her. The young upstart witch who murdered his beloved. The fact that the rogue werewolf has the same markings as Asil's dearly departed Sarai means something. Can a pack of werewolves band together and make a stand against the evil in the forest? Even if that evil might be a very deadly witch.

I loved this spin off from Briggs' Mercy Thompson series. Here we do get a bit more of a romantic boy and girl co-narration going on, but we also get a riveting story and some history. With a smaller cast of characters fighting for survival in the woods, it's kind of like Michael Crichton does werewolves, of course, I should mention that I am a fan of Crichton, and this isn't a slur on the book. Also, delving deeper into the characters that have mainly stayed on the sidelines or in Mercy's back story gives even more depth to the world Briggs has created. From learning about Bran's youth and how he was changed into a werewolf, to Charles' own upbringing and his type of magic. I'll add here, I so want to be able to conjure clothes for myself like Charles does. It seems like such a useful power, especially in the colder climates. I feel like I need a sweater, bam, I have one, awesome! See what I'm saying?

But hands down, it was Asil that rocked my world. A werewolf of legend whose wife was a healer and a wolf and he cultivated roses in Spain till one day their young ward, from a powerful family of witches, turns against him and his life is ruined. So heart wrenching, and so not vampires and fairies. I'm so glad we got to have some witch action in this book, varies it up from the vampire book, fae book, vampire book, fae book pattern that Briggs has established in her previous series. Though I still have some unanswered questions about Walter... but overall, I'm very satisfied, reading to dive into book two and keep my wait for River Marked as painless as possible.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 2011 Reading Challenge, Alpha and Omega, Anna, Asil, Bran, Charles Cornick, Cry Wolf, Michael Crichton, Montana, Omega, Patricia Briggs, River Marked, Sarai, Spain, Werewolves, Witches

On the Prowl by Patricia Briggs
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 7th, 2007
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
Challenge: Shifter Challenge 2011, Horror and Urban Fantasy
Rating: ★★★★ (Alpha and Omega only)
To Buy
The cat needs to be fed. Anna may be dead tired after a long shift at work, but that doesn't mean she'll forget her neighbor's cat. All she really wants to do is curl up and go to sleep, but a promise was made to Kara. Even if the cat hates Anna, not surprising, seeing as most cats hate werewolves. But she'll calmly sit and read the newspaper till Mouser is done, because in that way of all cats, he has an idiosyncratic habit, his is needing someone around while he eats. But everything leaves Anna's mind when she sees a picture of a young boy in the paper, Alan MacKenzie Frazier. Alan has been missing for two months... but Anna saw him in a cage at her Alpha's house being prepared for sale quite recently. Times are tough for a werewolf, and very tough if you belong to Leo's pack with Justin as his second. The 40% tithe is nothing compared to the beatings and rapes that Anna has had to endure. But Alan, Alan is something new and she dares to call the Marrok in Montana, the Alpha of all Alphas. As it turns out, Bran is aware of the peculiarities happening in the Chicago packs and is sending his son Charles, who is enforcer and executioner in one. Anna goes to the airport to meet Charles's plane and they have an instant connection. Charles's wolf feels immediately that he has found his mate and it is his duty to protect and care for this underfed and abused redhead. But there's something more about Anna. Something that everyone in the pack should have noticed and respected. She is an Omega. She is not submissive, she is not lowly, she is magical and has the ability to sooth the savage beast as it where. With Anna at his side, Charles vows to get to the bottom of the mysteries in the Windy City, and if he's not wrong, which he seldom is, there will be blood shed and death.

This little short story in the On the Prowl anthology sets the stage for the Alpha and Omega series that Patricia Briggs has written. But more than that, it also fills in some blanks from the first Mercy Thompson book, Moon Called. Moon Called starts with the appearance of Alan MacKenzie Frazier in the Tri-Cities in Washington State. He has bad tidings from Chicago, but before they can get the truth out of him he is killed. We then follow Mercy on her mission out west. But we only hear a little about the mission in the heartland that Bran sends Charles on. Turns out it was quite interesting, what with love at first sight, Greek food and silver bullets, not to mention a crazy rapist or two. Seeing as this is a prequel and is setting the scene for a new series, how important is it that you hunt down a copy of this before jumping into the world of Charles and Anna? I'd say pretty important. After having read Cry Wolf, I think you might be lost jumping into this world without the back story. And the back story here is quite important. But it's a quick fun read with an even better book to follow.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 2011 Reading Challenge, Alpha and Omega, Anna, Charles, Cry Wolf, Marrok, Mercy Thompson, Moon Called, On the Prowl, Patricia Briggs